Background
Research tells us that children who complete their first year of formal school with a well understood and fluent set of basic number competences have a better chance of later mathematical success than children who do not. The FoNS (foundational number sense) project has two major aims. The first is to investigate how teachers and parents in Sweden and England currently support these children learn these important skills. In practice, teachers and many parents already support children’s FoNS-related learning but little is known about the ways in which this happens or the extent to which teachers and parents collaborate. The second, drawing on the results of the first, is to propose ways of helping teachers and parents work both singly and together on supporting their children’s learning of FoNS.
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The characteristics of FoNS
An extensive literature review identified eight number-related skills that students need to learn by the end of their first year of school. Many students will have learnt many of these skills by the time they start school, but many will not. Thus, both parents and teachers have key roles in helping children become FoNS aware.
These eight key skills are the following:
The project’s activities
Over a five year period the project team will undertake a range data collection activity in England and Sweden. The activities will include
- Teacher interviews. The project team will question teachers about how they teach basic number skills, how their schools support year one students learning of basic number skills, how they see parents being involved in children’s learning of basic number skills and so on.
- Teacher questionnaires. The project team will develop a questionnaire, based on the issues identified in the interviews and the research literature, to investigate at scale how teachers in the two countries understand FoNS, its teaching and the role of teachers and parents.
- Teacher observations. The project team will observe year one lessons in both countries with the aim of identifying different approaches to the teaching of basic number skills.
- Parent interviews. The project team will question parents in both countries about how they support their own children’s learning of basic number skills and what they believe are the responsibilities of teachers.
- Parent questionnaires. The project team will develop a questionnaire, based on the issues identified in teacher interviews, parent interviews and the research literature, to investigate at scale how parents help their children learn basic number skills.
Project outcomes
It is known that teachers in different countries teach mathematics in very different ways. It is also known that teachers and parents in different countries have different expectations with respect to how they should support their children’s learning. Consequently, the FoNS team will use evidence from both countries to explore ways of helping parents and teachers in each country to better support their own children’s learning.
Finally, the project team is developing a website that will include details of the project’s background and, as the project develops, research outcomes as well as materials to support teachers and parents in their work with children.